Hawaii’s Gun Control Relegates 2A to ‘Second-Class Status’
During the oral arguments on Tuesday at Wolford v. LopezJustice Samuel Alito argued that gun control in Hawaii relegates the Second Amendment to “second-class status.”
SCOTUSBLOG quoted Alito telling a Hawaii attorney that the state was “relegating the Second Amendment to second-class status.”
Roll Call noted that Chief Justice John Roberts spoke of the Second Amendment as being treated as a “disfavored right” and Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed out the lack of historical precedent for gun control in Hawaii, saying, “Here, there is insufficient history to support the settlement, end of case.” »
WATCH – AWR Hawkins: 2026 is the year of national concealed carry reciprocity:
Breitbart News noted that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued that the “black codes” provided a necessary precedent to justify gun control in Hawaii, even though she later admitted that those codes were “unconstitutional.”
Roll call explained:
Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Samel A. Alito Jr. objected to Hawaii’s reliance on the 1865 law, part of the “Black Codes” intended to disenfranchise newly freed former slaves. Alito called it “the height of irony” to cite a law intended to disarm freed slaves and make them vulnerable to the Ku Klux Klan in support of modern Hawaii law.
Specific gun control at the center of Lopez This is a restriction prohibiting even licensed concealed carriers from operating private property open to the public unless said carriers first obtain permission from the landowner.
The case is Wolford v. LopezNo. 23-16164 in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down similar gun control in Maryland on Tuesday.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio and director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a doctorate in military history with a specialization in the Vietnam War (Brown Water Navy), the United States Navy since its inception, the Civil War, and modern Europe. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up for Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Contact him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
%20Headset%20Is%20Discounted%20Early%20for%20Black%20Friday.png?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "The Nothing (1) Headset Is Discounted Early for Black Friday")
